Method and apparatus of introducing and fusing in the leading-in wires into the tubular foot of an electric glowlamp



April 22, 1930. B ERBER ET AL 1,755,983

METHOD AND APPARATUS OF INTRODUCING AND FUSING IN THE LEADING-IN WIRES INTO THE TUBULAR FOOT OF AN ELECTRIC GLOW LAMP Filed July 26, 192B 2 Sheets-Sheet l April 22, 1930.

ERBER T AL METHOD AND APPARATUS 0F INTRODUCING AND FUSING IN THE LEADING-IN WIRES INTO THE TUBULAR FOOT OF AN ELE TRIC GLOW LAMP Filed July 26, 1926 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 rler any v FigAZ.

Patented Apr. 22, 1930 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BERNHARD ERBER, F VIENNA, AND FERDINAND GANTNER, 0F MODLING, AUSTRIA ASSIGNORS TO THE FIRM OF GUSTAV GANZ &, 00., ,OF VIENNA, AUSTRIA, A CORPO-v RATION OF AUSTRIA METHonf AND APPARATUS or INTRODUCING AND FUSING IN THE LEADINGJN WIRES INTO THE TUBULAR roor or AN ELECTRIC qLowLAMr Application filed July 26, 1926, Serial No, 125,085, and in Austria July 31, 1925.

Hitherto it has been necessary when making the supports for the filaments of electric glow'lamps first to cut the leading-in wires to the requisite length and thereupon before nipping them to introduce them separately by hand into the small glass tubes (feet), which is a slow operation, even when well organized. In many cases it has been diflicult to prevent these wires being introduced incorrectly or not at the right moment, so that there was a certain amount of wastage from this cause in the manufacture of the filament support. Hence in the manufacure of glow lamps as a typical case of manufacturing on a large scale thereis great need for doing away-with this manual work and substituting for it automatic operations. Nevertheless manufacturershave so far not been successful in carrying through entirely automatically the insertion, squeezing in and cutting oil of the leading-in wires, and the lifting out of the filament supports, com- ,pleted all but the insertion of the supporting wires and their delivery .to the apparatus for I predetermined length,'while the ends of the the subsequent operations.

Especially when metal wires consisting of pieces of different kinds of metals as generally used are to be employed, difficulties were experienced in bringing the piece of that kind of metal which has the same coefficient ofexpansion as glass (platinum,

chrome-irongcopperclad etc.) at the point,

where it is to be fused in and to cut the wires protruding into the interior of the lamp' which consists of another metal to the requisite length.

According to the present invention all operations required for the manufacture of the filament supporting piece, with'the exception of the insertion of the supporting wires, to which the invention does not relate, may be carried through automatically, the unseparated leading-in wires inserted in the glass .tube being drawn out along the latter when the foot is lifted out after being squeezed together an d'thereuponcut off to an accurately unused wires remain in position and are introduced by a simple axlal relative motlon vention relates to the method as such and is .not limited to any special constructional form of the apparatus.

In the accompanying drawings,

Figure 1 shows in elevation the whole apparatus for inserting, squeezing in and cutting oil the leading-in wires and for lifting out and delivering the finished filament support. 1 I

Figure 2 shows the part of this apparatus, referred to below as foot gripper, for carrying out the three first mentioned operations, also in the same elevation, but in a different phase of the operation.

Figure 3 is a side elevation corresponding tox Figure 2.

Figures 4 and 5 show a detail of Figure 3 in plan view, being a section on line A--A of Figure 3, in two different operative positions. A

Figures 6 to 9 show a detail of Figure 1 in side elevation and partly in section and in different working positions.

Figure 10 is the plan view of a detail of Figure 1, being a section on line BB.

Figure 11 is an enlarged vertical sectional view of the adjustable bar, and

Figure 12 is a top plan view thereof.

A number of different foot grippers (Figs. 13) are mounted on the usual conveying device, for instance a turn table. The part which lifts out and delivers the finished filament supports (referred to below as delivering device, see Fig. 1), is-Inou'nted in the stationary frame of the machine, only one fixed a Us shaped frame 6, in which the two foot grippers on the turn .table perform besides the intermittent-revolving motion a continuousrotary motion abbot-their axes which -j .arelparallel-..to the" axis ofthe turn table.

7 They each consist of} an axially "slidable bar 1' with a sleeved, the'ax-ially stationary sleeve '2 and the collar 3,'t he squeezing jaws 4 which .are'pivotedtothe collar 3 and are 'pivotally connected to fthearms 5, which have their other ends pivoted'to the sleeve :1 on the bar 1. "To-the sleeve 2 and the collar 3 is I drums 7 carrying the'wire and the wire guid- I .in'g' rollers, 8 are journalled. The'drums 7 are 3 revented from turning unintentionally by t e'braking springs 9. Within the collar 3 a sleeve 10 isfixed, which is provided with a large central bore and two small axial bores or slots lying at opp'ositesides of the sleeve.

- 2 in a plane lying at right angles to that of the squeezing jaws 4:. The central bore of -the sleeve is closed at the bottom byan adjust- "able bar 10, see Fig. 11 and through the Y lateral bores or slots the leading-in wires coming from the drums 7 over the rollers 8 are guided.

On the frame 6 a column 11 is screwed, which. supports gripping members 12 which a. spring 12 seeks to close (see Fig. 10).. Above the grippers 12 is a wire cutter 13 (see Figs. 4 and 5) and'a releasing pawl 14:

- which is provided with a rod 15 and a stop pin 16 mounted adjustably thereon. The pawl 14 kee s back a lever 17 whichq's pivoted to'the ame 6 and seeks to swing outwardly under the action of a s ring 18. The lever 17 extends through the o lique slots 19 in the wire cutter 13 and closes the latter as soon as it is released by the pawl 14.

This mechanism acts in the following manner: As the turn tablrotates the glass rod,

the foot and, in the case of tipless lamps,

4 the evacuating tube are inserted and are inslde'thejfifoot in such a manner that the *ei-lowerend ofi'the-vacuum tube is opposite the- "l' laws 4. lhe'wires coming from the drums brought up to the welding temperature of the glass ste while the a paratus continues to rotate. lhe glass rod: which has already been rovided with the glass beads, is placed upsi e down in the sleeve 10. The closing bar of the sleeve 10 is adjusted in accordance with the length of the glass rod,'so that the end of the glass rod, to which the foot is to be fused, comes exactly opposite the squeezing laws 4.- The glass rods are inserted by any own device. The foot is also placed with the disc upwards in the gri per 12 in a known manner. The tubular en of the foot surrounds .theend 'of the glass rod projecting out of the sleeve 10 just opposite the squeezing over the rollers 8 and through the longitubores in the sleeve 10 are embl aced by of." .The vacuumltube used in connecwi'thf-tipless lamps must be introduced rod, the leading-in wires and the vacuum tube, where such is used, altogether and thus causes these parts to fuse together. The grippers 12 are thereupon released by means of an arrangement provided on the frame of the machine and described below, the filament support being then lifted out drawing the wires along with'it, which are paid outby the drums 7. On a stop member provided on the delivery device or the foot itself striking against the stop pin 16, which is placed higher or lower on the rod 15 according to 'the type of lamp to be produced, the pawl 14 will rock about the pivot and release the lever 17, which will then rock about its pivot on the frame 6 under the action of the spring -18. The lever 17 will slide in the oblique slots 19 in the cutter 13 (Figs. 4 and 5) caus- 'ing the cutter to close whereby the wires are cut off exactly to the required length. The

delivery device will thereupon return the the next operation in the manner described below. The turn table will thereupon rotate by the amount of one division and the entire cycle of operations will be repeated with the next filament support.

' Figuresl and 6 to 9 show the device on the machine-frame for lifting out and delivering the finished filament support. 20 is a shaft rotating proportionally to the number of revolutions of the turn table. A bevel wheel 21 mounted on the said shaft meshes with a'bevel wheel 22 which is keyed on the shaft 23 journalled at 24 in the frame ofzthe machine. The

speed of revolutionof the shaft 20 and the gearing ratio of the toothed wheels21and 22 is made such that for each motion of the turntable by one division the'sha-ft 23 makes a complete revolutiorf. 01p the shaft 23 is mounted a reversing gear'for intermittent motien, consisting for instance of two frie tion wheels or toothed wheels 25, 26 facing one another, having only a portion of their periphery 27, 28 provided with a friction surface or with teeth. Between the two discs 25,

26 a pinion 29 is mounted, which engages alternately with the disc 25 and the 'disc 26 with intermittent periods of rest. The pinion 29 is mounted on a vertical shaft 30 journalled in the machine frame, at the upper end of which "isa bevel wheel 31 which meshes with a bevel wheel 32 keyed on the horizontal shaft 34' which is journalled in the frame 33. At the ing out of reach of the grippers 12 and being 'ished filament support has already been .ment support is ready to be=passed on to the other end of the shaft 34 is a spur wheel 35 which meshes with a vertical rack;,36. I The rack 36 isconnected to an arrangement 40 for gripping the finished filament support, the delivery device proper, and is guided in the frame 33, on which is provided an adjustable stop 41 for ejecting the filament support.

The delivery device consists in a hollow tu-' bular member 40fitted with a. fastening device of any suitable, spring type attaching itself to the stem introduced into the interior. of the-member 40. The fastening device is suitable to exert a pressure sufficient to hold the foot of light weight during its transport to another apparatus or the like.

The release of the pawl 14 and the return of the lever 17 into its initial position may also be effected by the rack 36. Below the spur wheel 35 in the frame 33 is a horizontal sliding member 37 through which the rack 36 passes. On the latter "are the stops 38,39 which coact in the following manner withthe'sliding member 37 In Fig. 6 the rack 36 is in the course of its upward motion, the fingripped by the device 40 and is lifted out, the cutters 13 have cut off the wires and the filanext operation. During the continued upward motion of the rack 36, the stop 38 will strike against the sliding member 37 (Fig. 7) whereby the rack 36 and the spur wheel 35 are locked together. This causes the bevel wheels 32 and 31 also to be; locked together and .the frame 33 is forced to" perform a swinging motion, the filament support.pass

delivered to another apparatus (cooling oven or the like) for the next operation. During this swinging motion the right hand end of the sliding member 37 (Figs. 6 to 9), strikes; against a stop member, not shown in the drawing, and is brought into the position shown in Figure 8. This releases-the stop member 38 on the rack 36,. so that the latter can continue its upward movement, the rack and the spur wheel 35 being no longer locked and the bevel wheels 32, 31 also being released,

so that the frame 33 ceases to swing. On the rack 36 continuing its upward. movement within the frame 33 moved aside, the finished filament support heldby the device-40 will' strike against the stop 41 and will thereby be released from the device ,40 and delivered to the apparatus for the next operation (cooling oven or the like). In the meantime the toothed or friction sector 27 on the disc 25 will have run past the pinion 29 which will thus come tojresta-nd with it the shafts 30 and 34 and the upwardfmotion of the rack 36.

v, In the meantime the turn table will have continued to revolve intermittently through one division and a fresh filament'support will have moved into the. reach of the-device shaft 23 will also in the meantime have continued to rotate, until the toothed or friction ector 28 of the disc 26 engages with the p'nion 29, so that the shaft 30 will be caused to rotate in the opposite direction. Consequently by means of the bevel wheels 31, 32 and the spur wheel 35 the rack 36 is moved downwards, but afterit has moved a short distance the stop 39 will strike against the sliding member 37 (Fig. 9). Owing to the consequent locking of the spur wheel 35 and of the bevel wheels 32, 31, the frame 33 will be swung backwards, until the sliding member 37 is brought into its right hand extreme position by a stop not shown in the drawing, thereby causing the swinging motion'of the frame 33 to cease and the downward motion of the rack 36 to be continued, until the gripping device 40 grips the next filament support. The pinion 29 will by this time have ceased to engage with the toothed or friction sector 28 of the disc 26 and the downward motion of the rack 36 has come to an end. On

the toothed or friction sector 27 of the disc 25 engaging with the pinion 29, a fresh upin the course'of which the foot or a stop connected to the gripping device 40 will operatethe releasing pin 16 of the pawl 15 causing the cutter 13 to cut off the leading-in wires which have been drawn along up till that moment by the filament support, as already described, without the filament support inter'rupting its upward motion, after which the cycle of operations just described is repeated. Coaxially with the shaft 30 but independent/of the same, a spur wheel 42 is mounted, which is connected to the frame 33 and takes-part in the swinging motion of the latter. This spur wheel 42 is surrounded by a stationary casing 43, in which two diametrically opposed racks '44, 45 are guided, which mesh with the spur wheel 42 (Figs. 1 and 10). The ends of these racks are provided. with jaws which embrace the arms of the grippers 12. On the frame 33 swinging back again the racks 44 and 45. are moved into the position shown in Figs. 1 and 10, in which they engagewith the arms of the grippers 12, which, on the turn table continuingto revolve, have brought a finished filament support along with" them, and press them together in opposition to the spring 12, so that the grippers12 releasethis filament support, which is thereupon gripped by the gripping device 40 and lifted out. On the frame 33 being swung aside, theracks 44, 45 are 'moved in the opposite direction, so that the grippers 12, from which the filament support has alreadybeen removed by the upward motion of the gripping device 40, can close again.

What we claim is 1. method of introducing and fusing in of an electric glow lamp, consisting in nipthe leading-inwires into the tubular foot ping the heated tubular foot containing the ends of the undivided leading-in wires, drawing the nipped wires along by raising the foot by an accli-ratel adjustable amount and cutting off the sai wires, the ends of the unused wires iremaining in the position into which they have been drawn, after which they can be inserted into the next tubular foot by an axial relative motion and by placing the tube over the wires,. as and for the purposes set forth.

2. A method of introducing and fusing the leading-in wires into the tubular foot of an electric glow lamp, consisting'in nipping the heated tubular foot containing the ends of the undivided leading-in-wires composed regularly of different kinds of metals, drawingthe nipped wires along by raising the foot a 1 cutting ofif the said wires, the ends of the unused wires'remaining inthe position, into which they have been drawn, after which they can be inserted into the next tubular foot by an axial relative motion and by placing the' tube over the wires, so that for a series of similar feet only a single adjustment is required of the kind of metal intended to pe fused into the point on the foot which is 0 be nipped together, as set forth.

I 3. An apparatus for introducing and fus-' ing in the leading-in wiresintp the tubular foot of an electric glow 1am'p, comprising in combination a conveying member, a device for holding' the tubular foot on the said conveying member, means for nipping the tubular foot, means for cutting off the nipped in wlres, means for withdrawing thefinished= foot fromthe holding device on the conveymg memberand for causinga relative move- .ment between the said, means for withdrawing the finished foot and the said holding device, as andfor the purpose set forth.

ing in leading-in wires into the tubular foot 4:. An apparatus for introducing and fusof an electric glow lamp, comprising. in combination a conveying member, ade-vice for holding the tubular foot on the said conveying member, a sleeve on the'said device for the reception of the glass rod on the tubular foot, 'drums for paying out the wires, longitudinal guiding passages in the said sleeve for'the wires, means for nipping the tubular foot, means for cutting off the nipped in wires, means for withdrawing the finished foot from the holding device on the conveying member" and for causinga relative movement between the said means for withdrawing ,the finished foot and the said holding device, as and for the purpose set forth.

5. An apparatus for introducing and] fusing in leading-in wires into the tubular foot of an electric glow lamp, comprising in combination a conveying member, a device for stance equal to a division of the wire and holding the tubular .foot on the said conveying member, a sleeve on the said "device for the reception of the glass rod on the tubular foot, drumsfor paying out the wires, guide pulleys forthe wires, longitudinal guiding passages in the said sleeve for the wires,

"means for nipping the tubular foot, means for cutting off the nipped in wires, means for withdrawing the finished foot from the holdfor the glass rod on .the foot, a spring for closing the .cutter, a pawl for locking the cutter in its open position, a stop member for raising the tubular foot out of the holding deviceand for releasing the said pawl and means for causing a relative movement between the said stop member and the said holding device, as set forth.

7. An apparatus for introducing and fusilig in the leading-in wires into the tubular foot of an electric glow lamp, comprising in combination a conveying member, a gripping device for holding the tubularffoot on the said conveying member, a spring for closing the gripping device, means for'nipping the tubular foot, means for cutting off the nipped 'in wires, means for withdrawing the foot containing the nipped in wires from the gripping device on the conveying member, means for causing a relative movement between the said means for removing the finished foot. and the said gripping device, means for causing a swinging motion of the said foot withdrawing means, two bars, jaws on the said bars, the bars being capable of being moved longitudinally parallel to one another by thereturn swinging motion for opening the gripping device by means of the said jaws and in the opposite direction for releasing the gripping device, as set forth.

8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 3 and comprising a swinging frame, a reversing gear for intermittent motion, a'pair of bevel wheels, a rack guided in the swinging frame so as to be capable of sliding upwards and downwards in the same, a spur wheel connected to one ofthe bevel wheels and journalled with the same in the swinging frame.

stop members on the said rack and a sliding nfiamber capable of coacting with the said gtophmembers, as and for the purpose set ort 9. An apparatus asclainiedin claim 3 and ill comprising a swinging frame, a reversing gear for intermittent motion, a pair of beve wheels, a rack guided in the swinging frame so as to be capable of sliding upwards and downwards in the same, a spur wheel con-\ nected to one of the bevel wheels and journalled with the same in the swinging frame, stop members on the said rack, a slidin member capable of coacting with the said step members, and a stop member on the swinging frame, capable of adjustment on the same, for removing the finished tubular foot from the means for withdrawing it from the gripping device'on the upward motion of the rack followingthe swin motion of the frame takin place, as set orth. In testimony whereog ve afiix our signatures. BERNHARD ERBER. FERDINAND GANTNER. 

